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Washington juggles lineup with lefty matchup

Washington juggles lineup with lefty matchup

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ARLINGTON -- David Murphy was out of the lineup on Wednesday night, the first of five straight games the Rangers were facing a left-handed starting pitcher. Mitch Moreland started in right, Julio Borbon started in center and Josh Hamilton started in left.

All four are left-handed hitters. With Nelson Cruz on the disabled list and Jorge Cantu playing first base against left-handers, manager Ron Washington said he'll rotate Moreland, Murphy and Borbon in the outfield this week. He also might use Brandon Boggs.

With the run of left-handers, this would be a good time for Vladimir Guerrero to get rolling. He is hitting .348 with a .530 slugging percentage against lefties this season, but also went into Wednesday's game hitting .219 in his past 33 games.

"Any five days would be good for Vlad to get rolling," Washington said. "I thought the first night against Minnesota he hit the ball well, [Tuesday] night Carl Pavano just had his number. Certainly this would be a good time for him to get on a roll at any moment he can."